


A Bracing Cup of Tea

by Ethereal_Wishes



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, The Dark Castle (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 19:52:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14900918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ethereal_Wishes/pseuds/Ethereal_Wishes
Summary: According to the old laws of magic, it was forbidden to love the Dark One.  But ancient folklore isn't going to stop a brazen beauty from stealing her cantankerous master's heart.





	A Bracing Cup of Tea

A Bracing Cup of Tea

A/AN: I'd like to thank all of my readers for their continued support and for voting, "Angels Unaware" for best drama AU! I'm floored by your support! Thank you again!

Belle pressed her nose against the cool glass pane. When she stepped back, she could see a faint imprint of her nose along the window. She gingerly swiped her polishing rag over the smudge. It disappeared, leaving a pristine view of the white landscape. It was snowing, and Belle couldn't help but feel fascinated by the fat flakes drifting to the ground below. She'd never witnessed snow before, and the simple phenomenon of it perplexed her. It never snowed in Avonlea. The climate was too humid, and during the winter it never fell below mildly warm temperatures. 

Belle was so transfixed on the white dancing flakes that she barely registered the door slam shut behind her. She flinched when she heard her master call her name – his voice laced with agitation. 

"Belle!" he remarked gruffly, "why haven't you prepared the tea yet!?"

Belle turned swiftly on her heel, nearly dropping her polishing rag in the process. "Rumplestiltskin, I didn't hear you come in," she replied timidly. 

Rumpelstiltskin cast her a calculating glance. "Well maybe if you'd get your head out of the clouds, you'd remember afternoon tea is at four o'clock sharp every afternoon," he retorted, his tongue clicking against his teeth unsatisfactorily. 

Belle's shoulders stiffened. "I'm sorry, I suppose I allowed the time to run away from me again."

Rumpelstiltskin shrugged disinterestedly. "I don't have time for your piddling, dearie! I'll just make it myself," he huffed, flourishing his hand, causing an ornately dressed tea service to appear before them. 

Before Belle could reply, a chair had stationed itself behind her, scooping her up and swiftly drifting to its place at the long oaken table, directly in front of Rumpelstiltskin. She was rendered speechless by the spectacle, but she shouldn't have been. The Dark Castle was full of many fascinating enchantments.

"How would you like your tea this afternoon, dearie?" he posed, giggling impishly as he poured them both a steaming cup of brew. He dropped two sugar cubes in his own, briefly stirring his tea with a gold teaspoon. Belle became mesmerized by the his slender fingers stirring the liquid that she'd forgotten to answer him.

"Sugar?" he spoke curtly, breaking the spell he withheld over her.

"Yes, please," she swallowed hard, imagining those skilled fingers which spun straw intricately into gold, mapping out her body with exquisite caresses. 

Belle felt her breath coming out in uneven gasps as she became caught up in her fantasy of him ravishing her. The clack of the teacup resounding against the table grasped her attention, clearing away the lustful daydream which had filled her bookish brain.

"Thank you," she mumbled, drawing the cup to her lips. She gazed at him in awe as he drank his tea. Her heart stalled because their arrangement was never supposed to come to this.

She blinked rapidly, attempting to banish the notion from her mind. She realized what had started as a harmless fixation had slowly blossomed into something else. She was meant to become the caretaker of his estate, and nothing more was meant to become of the equation. 

Months prior, Rumpelstiltskin would have locked her in the dungeons overnight out of pure spite for not remaining on task, or having his tea ready on time. However, his demeanor towards her had softened. Instead of continuing to punish her for her peculiar habits, he'd begun to embrace and overlook them. Not having his tea prepared on time had undoubtedly irritated him, but he didn't seem to be as bothered by it these days. Belle had learned the beast's bark was far worse than his bite. She was becoming aware he had a soft spot for her, though she hadn't overly analyzed it. It wasn't possible he returned her affections, was it? 

Belle had read in her books of ancient folklore that it was taboo to love a Dark One. They weren't capable of love, and if a foolish mortal fell for the demon then the darkness would obliterate them. Being the overly educated and intelligent princess that she was, Belle refused to take these legends to heart. Suddenly she began to feel bold, and she knew if she didn't test the waters that she would regret it for the rest of her life.

They took their tea in relative silence, never engaging in conversation. Their arrangement couldn't end like this, because if it did, the entire realm would unravel at the seams. Doubts flooded her mind. Belle quickly schooled her features, hoping Rumpelstiltskin didn't catch a glimpse into her azure depths and discover the secret her soul was harboring. The Dark One could never be loved. It was against the very laws of magic, and if he ever was, the world would burn around them, turning everything to ash in its wake.

As Belle's gaze flickered back to his, she swore she beheld something fleeting within his amber irises. Dare she hope? Casting her reservations aside, she reached for him, barely brushing her elegant fingers over his talon. The earth outside the castle walls seemed to quake in expectation of the unseen wonder of a pure beauty loving a tainted beast. He sat frozen with fear and anticipation as his beautiful maid stood from her chair, approaching him. She gently seized his wrist with her petite hand. His initial reaction was to pull away, but he found himself unable to will his ligaments to move. She leaned forward, brushing her lips ever so gently against his, and this time the world tilted on its axis as the light unbalanced the darkness – sending the realms in a chaotic motion as true love unhinged the Dark One, filling its host with the purest love in the universe. 

Her light was a gentle caress to his soul – ebbing away the darkness. The feather soft touch of her lips sent spirals of unfamiliar warmth coursing through him. He'd never felt anything so unadulterated before. Her illumination was literally driving the darkness from his being, its balm filling in the fissures within his battered heart. When their lips parted, he blinked owlishly, gazing down at his pinkish skin. He blinked rapidly, believing it to be only a dream, but his human flesh was still present.

"I love you, Rumplestiltskin." Her declaration reverberated within the atmosphere, causing the oceans to roar on distant shores, capsizing ships and flooding faraway kingdoms. He transfixed his gaze on Belle, her eyes filled with sheer wonder as she gazed upon him fearlessly.

He turned away momentarily, his eyes resting on the looking glass. He hesitantly approached it. He slid his hands down his face, a face he hadn't gazed upon in ages. The face before him wasn't the imp he'd become accustomed to seeing, nor was it the feeble spinner he'd been centuries before. Somehow it was a cross between the man he once was and the man he'd become. His soul felt lighter and his mind was quiet. He could no longer hear the demon's vile whisper nor sense the darkness's thrall.

He turned back to Belle, his mind clearer than it had been in centuries. He was held captive by her gaze as he silently approached her, gathering her hands in his own. For a few eternal seconds, he gently brushed his fingers over her knuckles, opting to say nothing. The sound of their synchronized heartbeats thrummed within his ears.

He exhaled a cleansing breath, deciding it was time to bare his heart. "Belle, when I made that deal with your father, the one where you'd go with me forever, I didn't realize what it truly entailed. You were meant to clean the Dark Castle, but you've surely been removing the cobwebs from my own desolate life. Your light permeated my darkness in a way nothing ever has before. The love you hold for me within your heart has chased it all away. You've broken my curse, my dearest Belle." He spoke with such reverence, brushing a stray tear from her eyes.

"Then it must mean it's true love and that deep within your heart you love me, too. The curse wouldn't have lifted if it hadn't been so," she hiccupped, overwhelmed by emotion.

"Yes, Belle, I'm irrevocably in love with you, and I never wish for you to leave my side," he professed. The moment the declaration left his lips fire began to fall from the sky, disintegrating diverse places, but the castle remained untouched, for it was protected by true love.

Belle shook her head reassuringly. "I'm not going anywhere, Rumpelstiltskin. Not in this lifetime or the next."

He tucked an errant curl behind her ear, beaming and exuding a glow of a man enraptured by love. "There's no way I'm ever letting you go, sweetheart," he replied, kissing her sensually, enrapturing the entire realm in a cataclysmic apocalypse.

The old laws of magic held true. The Dark One was never meant to be loved, but as the old world passed away, a new one was reborn from the love of two forbidden hearts.

The End


End file.
